Logistics firm to expand network in China

A logistics services provider in China is expanding its network across the country and is counting on a US solution to help manage the operations.

Shanghai KW Supply Chain Management Services (KW Logistics) said it has chosen Manhattan Associates' logistics solution called Manhattan SCALE: Supply Chain Architected for Logistics Execution to support its 24-hour operations at it gears up for expansion.

KW Logistics is a third party logistics services company and a specialist in B2C (business-to-consumer) e-commerce with four warehouse facilities in Shanghai covering a total of 220,000 sq ft (20,400 sq m).

It plans to build additional warehouses in Hangzhou in the second half of this year, and subsequently in Beijing and Guangzhan. The company said these are the "other cities in China where e-commerce is becoming an increasingly important part of the local economy".

Demanding operations

To achieve these goals, KW Logistics turned to NASDAQ-listed Manhattan Associates to provide them with optimised inventory management for their 24-hour uninterrupted logistics and order fulfilment operations.

Manhattan Associates said its solution will also support a number of other critical warehouse management processes, including receiving, sorting, picking, packing, warehouse planning and optimised product layout.

The solution will be installed at KW Logistics' Lianhua distribution centre in Shanghai and will subsequently be implemented across the rest of the company's distribution network in mainland China.

E-commerce

Zhang Qian, IT director, KW Logistics, said that for e-commerce operations such as theirs, they have different customers requiring varied systems. This complexity requires a robust warehouse management system that can support critical processes.

Qian explained further: "Our industry is extremely dynamic and we must be able to meet the ever-changing demands of our customers -- sometimes at very short notice. During a retail promotion for example, a store that usually produces 1,000 orders per day can generate more than 10,000 orders in the space of a few hours. With the support of Manhattan's systems, our DCs (distribution channels) will now be able to effectively manage the consistently high volume throughput associated with most e-commerce operations as well as the surges in demand triggered by events such as product promotions."

Manhattan Associates said its solution is scalable and configurable with user-friendly interface that is flexible enough to suit KW Logistics' customer requirements.